November 2, 2009

By Connie Felix

Thinking Years Ahead

• Elliott Sadler, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series No. 19 Stanley Ford Fusion driver, has said his wife is expecting a baby boy in March 2010.

• Carl Edwards, NSCS No. 99 Subway Ford driver, and wife are expecting a girl in February 2010.

Carl Edwards, during Friday's Trackside program at Talladega Superspeedway, told a stunned Elliott to keep his son away from his daughter.

2007 Project Completed

The Conservation Fund joined NASCAR driver Ryan Newman, NASCAR legend Bobby Allison, the U.S. Forest Service and representatives of Alabama's congressional delegation to announce the completion of a Racing for Wildlife project that preserves 1,100 acres in the Talladega National Forest. • Ryan Newman spent most of the week, prior to race weekend at Talladega Superspeedway, fishing and hunting in the new recreational area. • Ryan surprised Bobby Allison by asking him if he hunted for two or four legged prey back in the day. Allison quickly came back with 'he had a girl-wife back then', but was obviously shocked with the question.

Whose Fault

Austin Dillon, Grandson of Richard Childress, was all set to pilot the black No. 3 Realtree Outfitters Chevrolet at Talladega Superspeedway in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, Mountain Dew 250 powered by Fred’s. The truck purchased from Kevin Harvick, Inc. earlier this season, was previously driven in 2008 by Ron Hornaday Jr. at Daytona International Speedway. However, the truck which went through inspection numerous times, prior to qualifying was not able to pass as it was too low.

Congratulations

Keven Wood, son of Wood Brothers Racing team owner Len Wood, has won the 2009 Season, Caraway Speedway Legends track championship. In route to that accomplishment, he won the final 4 feature races. Despite missing the first 2 races of the season,

Servicemaster Clean 'By The Numbers' Fall Talladega

0 – fewest cautions for a Sprint Cup race at Talladega Superspeedway (3 times, most recent 10/6/02)

1 – number of career wins by Richard Brickhouse who won the first Sprint Cup race at Talladega in 1969

2 – number of times qualifying has been canceled at Talladega (10/6/02 and 10/31/09)

8 of the 10 drivers in the top 10 in the point standings after the first Talladega race made it into the Chase

13 Talladega races have been won from the pole

14 – number of cars involved in first of nine ServiceMaster Clean Cautions during April race at Talladega

283 ServiceMaster Clean cautions in first 32 Sprint Cup races in 2009

1,344 of 9,388 laps run in first 32 Sprint Cup races this season have been under a ServiceMaster Clean yellow

1,822.890 of the 12,385,831 miles completed in the first 32 Sprint Cup races were under caution

Going Home Early Again

Tony Raines, No. 37 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Long John Silver's Dodge driver, has again been left out in the cold, due to a rained out qualifying at Talladega Superspeedway. NASCAR stated that the team withdrew, surprising since they were not the slowest during Friday's practice session.

Scoring Change

Denny Hamlin suggests the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Chase drivers have their own separate scoring system during the final ten races. Not that it would change the fact, Jimmie Johnson is in the Chase lead, but the other nine drivers would feel better should they have a bad week. There was also the mention of 10 points for Ifs and 15 for buts!

Crew Chief Said What

Lance McGrew made the following comment, regarding Dale Earnhardt Jr. as Dale sat by his side. "I was really surprised when I first started working with Dale and his confidence was beat down as much as it was; I expected him to be a lot more positive and a lot more understanding of the situation."

Flying Can's

Spotted several beverage cans being thrown from the top deck over the press box, as Kyle Busch's, No. 51 Miccosukee Resort / Graceway Pharmacy Toyota, passed on his way to the start finish line for burnouts, after winning the Mountain Dew 250 fueled by Fred's at Talladega Superspeedway.

1 Of 4 Halloween Costumes

Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota NASCAR Sprint Cup driver, was spotted at Talladega Superspeedway dressed up as the TIN MAN from Wizard of Oz.

Kiss On The Cheek

Chrissy Wallace, No. 08 Fuel-Doctor.com Chevrolet NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver, gave her father, Mike Wallace a kiss on the cheek, before crawling into the truck to run her qualifying lap at Talladega Superspeedway

Daughter Wins Bet

Mike Wallace and Chrissy Wallace made NASCAR history this weekend as they became the first father-daughter duo to compete in a national series event. Chrissy started 27th and finished in 13th position. Mike started 33rd and finished 28th in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Talladega Superspeedway.

NCWTS Infraction List at Talladega Superspeedway

• Fourteen drivers had 16 infractions during the running of Saturday's Mountain Dew 250 fueled by Fred's, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race.
• Pitting before pit road was open and sent to the tail end of the line was T.J. Bell (2), Colin Braun, Ron Hornaday Jr., Mike Skinner, James Buescher, Timothy Peters, Ricky Carmichael, Rick Crawford and J. R. Fitzpatrick.
• Excessive speed exiting the pits sent Timothy Peters and Brian Scott to the tail end of the line. Norm Benning was given a pass through for the same infraction.
• Mike Wallace had a safety violation when his hood was loose and was sent to the pits by NASCAR.
• David Starr was Outside half of the pit box tire violation/team member not in contact with the outside tires and sent to the tail end of the field.
• Chis Jones was penalized for going above the blend line exiting the pits and sent to the tail end.

400 Starts Still A Rookie

Stacy Compton, driving the No. 60 SafeAuto Insurance Toyota Tundra in the Mountain Dew 250, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at Talladega Superspeedway, had a yellow strip on his truck. Even though Compton has been racing at a professional level in the ranks of NASCAR since 1996, where he has accumulated 400 career starts, the two-time Camping World Truck Series winner has never raced a truck around the 2.66-mile paved oval.

NSCS Infraction List From Talladega Superspeedway

• Twelve drivers had 14 infractions during the running of Sunday's AMP Energy 500, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race.
•Kasey Kahne was sent to the rear of the field at the start for an engine change - He finished second in the race.
•Pitting before pit road was open, Tony Stewart (2), Ryan Newman, Jimmie Johnson, Jamie McMurray, Kurt Busch, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick and Elliott Sadler were all sent to the tail end of the line.
•Erik Darnell and Casey Mears were given a pass through for excessive speed exiting the pits.
•Martin Truex Jr. was given a pass through for excessive speed entering the pits.
•A crewmember was over the wall too soon and Kurt Busch was sent to the tall end of the line.
•Greg Biffle had Outside half of the pit box tire violation/team member not in contact with the outside tires and was penalized with a pass through.

Winners Wreath

40 years ago, Richard Brickhouse was awarded a Winner’s Wreath at the conclusion of the inaugural Talladega 500. Talladega Superspeedway has restored the tradition with the 2009 AMP Energy 500, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. The winner, Jamie McMurray received a modern version of the wreath, created by a local floral shop, Scot Wedgeworth Weddings Events and Entertaining. Brickhouse was part of the Victory Lane celebrations and present the wreath to McMurray.

Dave Despain's weekend television show stated that today there are still drivers and car owners who swear that Brickhouse was a lap down and that NASCAR scoring was in error that day. Thirty eight years ago, IRN scored for NASCAR at Ontario and Riverside races. Trust me when I say, it would have taken days to have found an error and decisions can't always wait that long.

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